Team 1: Calderdale Way Pecket Well / Midgehole Path.
Dick, Paul and Stuart, made a 3rd and final visit to complete the clearance of this well-walked path. Azads, rakes, brushes and shovels were the order of the day plus some cutting back. As the after pictures show, this was well worth the effort.
Meanwhile Team 2 consisting of Frank H, Fred, Ray and Stella paid a final (for now!) visit to the delightful path that winds its way down from Walshaw towards Hebden Water. It was a day of mixed weather:
'The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day.
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May ...
... But if you so much as dare to speak,
A cloud comes over the sunlit arch
And wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March.'
{Robert Frost (1874-1963): Two Tramps in Mud Time}
However, step and revetment work was the task. This is how Ray and Stella started ... and finished!:
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| Before: The gap (steeper than it looks) in the flight of steps, needs revetment and extra steps. |
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| After: Stella inspecting the 'Stairway to Heaven'! |
Some in-fill and landscaping was done after the above picture had been taken, but this is high quality construction work. Well done guys.
Further up the path, on a tight precipitous, bend Frank H and Fred also worked on a 'steps and revetment' problem. Here's how they started ... and finished.
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| Before: Slippery tight bend. |
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| After: Revetment and steps in-place and path widened. |
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| Before: Tight bend and steep path, dropping down to right.. |
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| After: A view up towards the bend. The path is now graded. Revetment protects the drop down the steep banking and a couple of risers (one so muddy it is hardly visible!) have been added to 'ease' the slope. |
We also replaced the old marker post (top left picture) and put the RoW disk in a more logical position!
Today's work on this path, leading into Hardcastle Crag, was supported by the National Trust (Hardcastle Crags).
